Betting company Hollywoodbets has been revealed as the new headline sponsor of South Africa’s fourth division, the SAFA Men’s Regional League.
The Durban-based company and the association have agreed a two-year deal with an option to renew.
The division had been without a sponsor since 2019 when SA Breweries stopped financing the amateur league.
Since then it has been funded by the 2010 FIFA Legacy Trust, which SAFA has since confirmed has run out of money.
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During the announcement at SAFA House in Johannesburg, the federation’s Vice-President, Linda Zwane, said fourth-tier clubs faced many hardships over the period without a sponsor.
“It’s going to benefit the people in the villages, teams or clubs at the level and our regional associations,” Zwane said. “We are excited that today we have a partner who saw it fit to come on board for our regions and the players in various villages in the country, rural areas, the towns and urban areas. What is very important is that the investment that has been made by Hollywoodbets is a milestone for us, because if you don’t invest at grassroots level, chances of you having a better Bafana Bafana, a better Banyana Banyana, is not possible.”
All 52 SAFA regions are regulated to run a fourth-tier league of 18 teams, where the top two sides gain promotion to the third-tier ABC Motsepe League.
This is the second partnership between Hollywoodbets and SAFA, as the betting company also backs the Hollywoodbets Super League, SAFA’s top-tier women’s league.
